Care, Knowledge, and Rights: Advancing the Leadership of Indigenous Persons with Disabilities'(COSP19 Side Event)

The 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) represents a key opportunity to reflect on progress made and the challenges that remain. Indigenous persons with disabilities continue to face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, linked to geographic isolation, poverty, environmental degradation, and exclusion from decision-making spaces, oppression and racial discrimination.

In Indigenous worldviews, care is understood as a holistic and relational concept that encompasses not only people, but also land, biodiversity, and ancestral knowledge. These systems are fundamental to community well-being, food sovereignty, and health, through practices such as traditional medicine.

At the same time, Indigenous Peoples, often the original inhabitants of their territories, continue to face systemic oppression and racial discrimination, even within their own lands. These intersecting injustices further marginalize Indigenous persons with disabilities, whose voices and contributions are frequently overlooked.

In this context, it is essential to recognize the active role of Indigenous persons with disabilities in preserving biodiversity, as their daily relationship with the land contributes to the protection of natural resources and the transmission of knowledge. Their inclusion is not only a matter of rights, but also strengthens community strategies by incorporating diverse ways of perceiving, inhabiting, and protecting the environment.

"Living pharmacies," where medicinal plants are cultivated, reflect the deep connection between health, culture, and the environment; however, these systems are increasingly at risk due to climate change, biodiversity loss, and the commercialization of ancestral foods, which limits access for Indigenous communities, particularly impacting Indigenous women with disabilities, while climate change is also significantly affecting the production of medical equipment, underscoring the need to address the vulnerabilities of globally sourced items.

Additionally, Indigenous knowledge remains largely absent from formal education systems and public policies, putting its transmission to future generations at risk. Care is also closely linked to decent work and economic sustainability, as community initiatives such as reforestation and plant nurseries, often led by Indigenous women with disabilities, generate sustainable income while protecting ecosystems.